5 Tips for Maximizing Credit Card Rewards Without Overspending

Written by Emily Sherman

Emily Sherman

Credit cards, consumer banking

Emily Sherman is a seasoned personal finance journalist with seven years of experience. Her work has been featured in publications including U.S. News & World Report, Buy Side from The Wall Street Journal and Bankrate. Her work spans all areas of personal finance, including credit cards, consumer banking, mortgages, investing and more. She has also written about higher education and technology topics for sites including OnlineU.com and Shopify. Across topics, Emily is passionate about writing stories that break down complex topics and make them more accessible for the average reader. Emily has a bachelor's degree in English Writing and Rhetoric from St. Edward's University in Austin, TX. When Emily is not writing, you can find her planning her next big vacation using points and miles or curled up with a good book. She currently lives in Worcester, MA.
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Edited by Amen Oyiboke-Osifo

Amen Oyiboke-Osifo

Generational wealth, credit card travel rewards

Amen Oyiboke-Osifo is an editor at GOBankingRates and CardCritics, and has been in the personal finance space since 2019. She specializes in personal finance, credit cards, and generational wealth money trends. Amen brings over a decade of experience in digital, broadcast, and print journalism. She previously served as the executive producer of The Richer Way Podcast, presented by GOBankingRates, where she highlighted wealth-building strategies and financial insights from industry leaders. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Communications from Prairie View A&M University and her master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Southern California. Amen’s current work focuses on demystifying credit cards, rewards, and debt payoff strategies.
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Reviewed by Jasmin Baron

Jasmin Baron

Credit Cards, Travel Rewards, Loyalty Programs, Family Travel, Credit Building, Credit Scores

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Jasmin Baron is CardCritics’ senior editor, responsible for editing and writing credit cards, travel rewards, loyalty program, and other credit-related content. She is passionate about personal finance education and enjoys sharing tips and tricks for making the most credit card points and miles with her readers. Her expertise in maximizing credit card travel rewards originated from over two decades of aviation industry experience, including 18 years working as a pilot and college professor/flight instructor in her native Canada. Her work has appeared on sites such as CNN Underscored Money, Business Insider, The Points Guy, and point.me. When she’s not planning her next trip with credit card rewards, you’ll probably find her tinkering around in the kitchen, hanging out with her three kids, or playing with her dog, Benji.
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Last Updated Aug 14, 2025

Friends paying for their purchase with a credit card.

The best rewards credit cards can unlock points or miles on all your purchases, and earning these rewards can be addictive. There is nothing quite like redeeming travel points for a free flight or cashing out cash back to cover a purchase.

Discover More: Best Low APR Credit Cards

The danger lies in chasing rewards by overspending on your credit card, then getting stuck with a bill you can’t afford and high-interest charges. Don’t worry: There are ways to make sure you are earning as many rewards as possible without spending more than you can pay back. Here are a few.

Earn a Welcome Bonus

Credit card welcome bonuses offer outsized rewards-earning potential compared to everyday spending. For meeting a certain spending threshold in the first few weeks or months, new credit card holders can earn hundreds of dollars or thousands of points, depending on the card.

Just be careful, as many credit card issuers impose restrictions on who is eligible to earn a bonus. For instance, you may not be able to qualify if you’ve previously owned a certain credit card. You also may be ineligible if the issuer suspects you of card churning, or opening multiple cards and canceling them quickly, just to earn the bonus.

Pay for Everything With Credit

It may sound self-explanatory, but one of the easiest ways to earn more points is simply to put more spending on your card. This doesn’t mean overspending, though. Instead, reach for your credit card for every purchase you make, and then pay it off from your debit account as soon as possible to avoid interest. You can even offer to cover a friend’s bill when eating out together or buy tickets for group excursions and have other participants pay you back to earn more.

Two exceptions to note here: cash withdrawals and bills. Withdrawing cash from a credit card or a cash advance is rarely a good idea. The annual percentage rate (APR) for this kind of transaction is higher than your normal purchase APR, and interest will usually start accruing immediately, without a grace period. Bill payments, on the other hand, aren’t subject to higher interest rates, but providers may charge a fee for paying with credit. In many instances, this is higher than any rewards you’d earn.

Leverage Intro APRs

One of the dangers of overspending on a credit card is being stuck with high-interest charges. A low introductory APR credit card, however, can help mitigate some of that risk. These cards offer low or no APR for several months — even up to two years — allowing you to pay down larger purchases over time. This is a great way to put a big expense on credit and get the rewards without having to stress over paying it back in full within the billing cycle.

Take Advantage of Card-Linked Offers

Most rewards credit cards have designated categories they earn the highest rates, with general purchases netting much lower returns. Still, there may be other opportunities to earn a higher rewards rate on certain spending.

Most card issuers offer what are known as card-linked offers, which are special promotions with partner retailers you can activate for bonus rewards. These can give you as much as 10% or 15% back on purchases with specific merchants, on activation.

Use the Right Card for Each Category

Remember how different cards earn higher rates in specific categories? That means it’s important to swipe (or these days, tap) the right card for every expense. This may mean the best card to earn rewards is more than one.

Consider your highest spend categories. Do you spend a lot each month on groceries, or do you allocate more to dining out? Are you commuting and filling up on gas regularly? Choosing one of the best credit cards for each category you spend the most in can help ensure you maximize returns on all your purchases.

Bottom Line

Earning more credit card rewards does not necessarily mean spending more money. You want to avoid overspending whenever possible, because high interest rates essentially cancel out any returns from points or cash back. Take advantage of strategic spending habits — such as leveraging intro APRs for large purchases or perusing your card-linked offers — and you can maximize credit card rewards without altering your budget.

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Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer.
*CardCritics™ references a FICO® 8 score, which is one of many different types of credit scores. A financial institution may use a different score when evaluating your application.